It Just Gets Nurse

STRATFORD — For two months Josie Cicerale pleaded for the town of Stratford to pay to fix the car she was driving when Police Officer Justin LoSchiavo crashed his patrol car into the rear of her vehicle while he was having a seizure.

LoSchiavo, the son of former Deputy Police Chief Joseph LoSchaivo, was hired by Mayor James. R. Miron three years ago despite warnings against his hiring by doctors and top town officials, who cited the applicant’s history of seizure disorder that could impact his ability to drive and carry a loaded weapon.

At first, right after the June 6 crash at the intersection of Stratford and Beardsley avenues, Cicerale said she would have settled for $500 to go along with the $300 from her own insurance company to pay the estimated $800 repair bill.

Even after the town stalled, Cicerale says, as recently as two weeks ago she still would have been willing to accept $811.85 to cover the repair costs money the town charged her for the accident report, which took six weeks for Police Chief John Buturla to release.

She even told the Town Council two weeks ago she would not seek monetary damages for bodily harm if it just agreed to pay for her car repairs.

But there’s some new twists that may change that.

Chief Administrative Officer Suzanne McCauley on Friday refused to release the car, a 2007 Ford Element, from a local auto body shop where the town agreed to have the car fixed, unless Cicerale signs a waiver not to
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take any legal action against the town or the police officer.

Cicerale, a former nurse and Stratford resident, said she was also advised by a doctor last week that the pain she’s starting to feel when she walks on her left ankle could be related to the accident.

“Last week I was told all I had to do was sign a release involving the car repairs, and they would give me my car back,” Cicerale said.

Instead, she says, on Thursday McCauley faxed her a copy of a waiver agreement she and her husband, Ken, agreed she would not sign that “essentially says I can’t ever file any legal action, even against the officer. I’m not willing to sign that [right] away.”

McCauley then called the body shop (Hanson’s Auto Body) and advised the owner, Brian Hanson, “not to release the car to me,” Cicerale said.

Cicerale said she plans on having her Fairfield attorney review the waiver agreement Monday, and expects to attend a special Town Council meeting later that night in Town Hall to demand her car back.

“I have never seen anything handled so badly in my life,” Cicerale said. “It’s been one delay and stalling tactic after another. This accident was not my fault, and it wasn’t my fault the mayor hired a police officer who never should have been behind the wheel of a patrol car in the first place.”

Town Council Chairman Mike Henrick, R-10, said Saturday that while he believes the mayor “did handle this very poorly from the start,” he agrees the town cannot pay for the repair work unless Cicerale signs the waiver.

“That’s just standard procedure involving all accidents,” Henrick said. “I do feel badly for this woman, and her car should have been fixed right away. It was ridiculous for it to take six weeks to release the accident report, and then charge her for it.

“But two weeks ago she [Cicerale] told the council she just wanted her car fixed. If that has changed then she’s going to have to pay for the repair work,” Henrick said. “She can’t have it both ways.” Miron and McCauley could not be reached for comment.

Ummm….Mike? How about learning that you actually don’t have to say something stupid just because your name is going in the paper? Geeze, what a dumb thing to say!

Like this:

Shouldn’t Mrs. Cicerale pay the deductible and let her insurance company go after the town? I know my insurance company will refund me the deductible once they collect from the other party. Or am I just lucky that I have a good insurance company?

Also, if anyone in the RTC reads this and has any power, (Norm/Joe/Lou?) you have got to get Mike Henrick to shut the hell up. He’s not doing anybody any favors when he makes stupid comments to the press. He doesn’t help Stratford, the Town Council, the Republican party in Stratford, or either Republican candidate for Mayor.

It is time for Ms. Ciserale to hand the claim over to her insurance company. She was hit from behind and it is more than clear that she is not at fault. Her insurance company will sue the town for the money and the legal fees-which will be about 20 times the amount of the claim. As usual the town administration is being just absurd-this is a situation that will rock the town for a long time and will ultimately blow the lid off the hiring scandal that took place with Justin Loschiavo. Mr. Hendrick as usual has put 10 pairs of feet in his mouth-one day he will learn to just shut up and not make things worse. Council voted to pay for the repair. That is where it should end. Instead, we are going to be hit with a bazillion dollar lawsuit for administrative stupidity. There is a reason that there is 18 months – 2years to file injury lawsuits-not everything is cut and dry the way that Miron, Buturla and Mccauley would like it. She should not be able to make any other claims with regard to the repairs-but it is now time to sue the pants off the officer driving the car and everyone involved in the hiring of him, willful negligence etc.
Ms. Ciserale-you are absolutely correct-the mayor should never have hired him, and he should be accountable for his actions. Since he feels that he is as untouchable as the Loschiavo family it is time to prove to him that they are all touchable and accountable for their actions. When the mayor refused to acknowledge the original background report and continued to allow the process to continue I believe he was acting outside the scope of his duties as mayor and willfully and deliberately put the public in danger, and would have done it again in the hiring of his own brother if he hadn’t gotten caught. This is one lawsuit that NEEDS to be filed. Go ahead, Ms. Ciserale-tell them all to go scew and get your papers of intent filed. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In earlier posts I advised Mrs. Cicerale to ask for the $ 300
deductable + $ 11 + the deductable.

I also posted her insurance agent has not served her well
and the adjuster / agent should have gone after town.

Years ago, I saw a kid looking at a home and turning into the
driveway without paying attention to me coming down the road.
I stopped.
It didn’t make a difference.
It hit me.
I went to my MD for a check up.
He would not even check up.

About 1 year later my back problems started…..

Maybe Kevin Kelly can call his former boss, Dick Blumenthal?

But then John Burturla. formed head of CT TROOPER HOME LAND
SECURITY could call Lieberman, chairman of Senate HOME LAND
SECURITY Committee, who could over rule / call in favor with his
protoge Dick Blumenthal?

Once again, we are shown that basic fairness and morality do not exist in Town Hall.

Here we have Justin Loschiavo out on “Injured on Duty” leave at full pay and benefits for 76 days so far. (Hope you had a nice summer vacation, Justin).

In the meantime, Ms. Cicerale’s car is still damaged and now not even in her possession!

We also have two outstanding officers that have been arrested and suspended without pay for 60 days (so far). Simply because they…I’m not really sure what it is anymore that they are supposed to have done. The arrest was for “computer crimes” but each of them had complete AND authorized access.

And why is this? Or better yet, the question is “Who’s the f*****g mayor”? Can’t he “do whatever the f**k he wants?”

McCauley, Buturla (both of them) never ever take action on their own. Just like good little Mironazis, they only follow orders.

My guess is that there are plenty of personal injury attorneys in Fairfield county that are simply drooling over this case. Ms. Cicerale will eventually be made whole. Who will profit the most? Berchem, Moses & Devlin @$325/hour.

Jez, I guess you’re mad as hell and not going to take it anymore? What’s with the explatives? ……Ya,I know,’Comeing from a former MARINE.
Seriously, Ms. Ciserale had 2 choices. 1-get a lawyer. 2-Do it herself. My recomendation would have been get a lawyer. Considering all the incidents leading up to this one you would think the Mayor would handle her situation with a little discretion. But then he would have been accused of sweeping it under the rug. The big loosers here will be the taxpayers.

I’m not sure what a “huperbole” is, but Berchem Moses and Devlin gets $325/hour and they bill in 6 minute increments.

The Town Attorney currently gets $150/hour. I’m not sure if Rich bills the Town in 6 minute increments. He probably just rounds up to the next hour. Of course, he also has a full time legal secretary that he never uses but we pay for anyway.

Jez, It read as if you were asking the question. I stand corrected. In that case I understand the Mayors wanting to sound proof his office.
If Ms. Ciserale wanted her car fixed quickly she should have went to her own insurance and let them deal with it. Given the circumstances and who we are dealing with getting a lawyer, in my opinion, to handle it would have been the better choice.

Sadly, Ms. Cicerale no doubt expected that the mayor, chief of police or the Council to act in a responsible and ethical matter. She probably had no idea how corrupt it had gotten here. Most people are so busy working and struggling to survive, they just don’t have time to pay attention. They really shouldn’t have to. Nobody wants to think about local petty politics. This is a small town government, it’s not that complex.

You think about it when your mortgage payment goes up because property taxes have increased. But the bad news comes from your mortgage company, not the Town.

Apparently Mike Henrick has been involved in it for so long he no longer knows the difference between right and wrong.

The other candidates are stunningly silent on this whole episode as well. Except for Harkins who seems to have the position of no position at all.

One day there was a state dinner with the Czar of Russia
and the Kaiser of Austria.

A state dinner with all the trimmings was served.
One of the items on the menu was kishke,
otherwise known as stuffed derma.

Real kishke is nothing like the “kishke” that is available at your
local delicatessen. Real kishke is actually the intestines of the a
nimal stuffed with flour and oil and all sorts of spices.
I had it only once in my life when I was visiting Israel.
I think it might even be illegal in the United States.

Enough of my food review. The bottom line is that kishke was
served and the Kaiser loved it. He asked the Czar to send his cooks
the recipe. The Czar graciously promised to do so.
After the Kaiser’s departure the Russian cooks wrote down the
recipe and sent it via diplomatic mail to the Kaiser’s chefs.

The day finally came when the Kaiser was informed that he
would be served kishke. He sat down hungrily. Out came a tray.
Phew! Did it stink!
The Kaiser took off the cover from his plate and took a bite.
He immediately spat out the piece and ordered the tray removed
and the kishke thrown away.

A letter of official protest was immediately dispatched to the Czar.
How dare he send a recipe for such a vile concoction!
The Czar received the protest letter and summoned his cooking
staff for an explanation.

Initially, the imperial kitchen staff was perplexed.

They went over the recipe and could not find the problem.

After quite some time and in a moment of inspiration,
one of the staff exclaimed incredulously, “Of course!
We told him how to stuff and spice the kishke,
but we never realized that we needed to tell him
to clean it out before he stuffs it!”

This story is a parable for teshuva, a.k.a. repentance.

Often times we make firm resolutions for the future especially
as we near the upcoming Days of Awe.
As Rosh Hashanah approaches, we begin to think more and more
about ways to improve.

The above story teaches us that, indeed, good deeds are important.

However, resolutions are best when prefaced by an honest
stocktaking in order to correct any areas in our behavior that
need fixing.

Otherwise even with all of the spices (good resolutions) in the world,
a (Miron/Burturla/Norm) person may remain a stinking kishke…

I love those type parables / fables. Most of the original star trek tv
was modernized from OT – NT – SHAKESPEARE.

– Reminder to Mike R about Shakespeare Theater – much that is good
and much that is bad in western civ and British history relates to the
peres troika > Latin – Greek – Hebrew

Then the Hebrew goes back to Egypt & Babylonia.

The French SUN KING and the ENGLISH “RA” men try to capture the
culture which PREDATES the HEBREW …

I think the Chief of Police would be better able to answer that as he was in charge at the time that decision was made.

Although it being a personnel decision I don’t think we’ll ever know why.

As the article states the official 180 days of light duty expires on Feb 22. That’s the maximum the contract allows. As for the injured on duty status that again could be answered by the Chief but since its a personnel decision I’m not holding my breath for an answer.

I think we’re just going to have to live with the fact that he got injured on duty status even though there are no documented injuries and that the light duty assignment is allowed by the union contract.

I noticed that Loschiavo’s doctor did not give a clear determination forcing the town to have him examined. Would you care to bet on the chances of a lawsuit by Loschiavo if the town’s doctor says he’s not able to perform his duties and the town terminates him?

It remains that morale has been corroding in the PD and that the letter of the law (or contract) receives more respect than justice.

I’m, of course, thinking of Doug O’Meara who received neither and must live permanently injured because he was covering for Justin Loschiavo. Of course Justin Loschiavo laughs at Officer O’Meara and the taxpayers every single payday.

I put in my papers for disability retirement while being out on sick time when it was really an injury on duty=which was all documneted and is proven.

Since they were charging me sick time and by contract I can stay out 1yr and 1 day, after that I was on my own as far as being paid.

Now, Knowing I was being charged sick time and Winterbottom kept cancelling the disability review board meetings, I knew that my 1yr and 1 day was coming up, so I said let me come back Light Duty until Winterbottom decides what he wants to do so I wouldnt be without pay, Winterbottom refused to let me do light duty and instead just cut off my pay completly after my 1yr and 1day of sick time was up.

Still holding cases:
Esq Kevin Kelly is getting paid from Town Attorney Budget
Esq. John Florek of C.R.C. # 2 is getting paid from Town Attorney Budget
Esq. Rich Burturla of BMD is getting paid from Town Attorney Budget

–

Hopefully Mayor Harkins and his staff can correct this injustice.

Yeah…
The check is in the mail.
The porsche is paid for.
Honest baby, I can hold it and would never ….

Who appoints the Town Attorneys and OKs who they can use and not
use as subcontractor …. at how much per hour Jeze?

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